The present invention relates to a plastic insert member for inserting into an opening of a container member and for connecting thereto.
The invention relates in particular to dimensionally stable plastic insert members for welding to a container member formed of flexible plastic foil material for producing flexible pouches such as are used in dispensing machines for storing e.g. powdery products such as coffee or tea granules, which are solvable in a fluid such as water. Here, a quantity of fluid is directed into the pouch through the insert member, e.g. hot water is directed into the interior of the pouch so as to dissolve the powder and produce a drink which can be extracted through the insert member for further use. For uniformly distributing the flow of fluid to every portion of the interior of the pouch whilst simultaneously avoiding powder residues which are not dissolved in the pouch, it has already been proposed to provide a distributor bar in the flow path of the fluid near the outlet opening of a through passage in the insert member so that the fluid flow will strike the bar and thus be deflected to the sides. One disadvantage of this arrangement is that restrictions are associated therewith in regard to the design of a barrier seal wall for hermetically sealing the through passage until the time the pouch is used. In the known arrangements, the barrier wall consists of a barrier foil that can be perforated by means of a spike or the like. This barrier wall requires an additional manufacturing step for the insertion and mounting thereof in the through passage. Another disadvantage is that the insert member is dedicated to the production of such a flow-deflecting effect even though it may be desirable in many applications of use, without the need for producing and storing another type of pouch for this purpose, for the fluid to be introduced into the interior of the pouch without deflecting its direction of flow.